Orthos and patients - different priorities?

Message

#1 Post by **weird_wired** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 11:26 am

I am totally obsessed with my teeth getting in-line and even and perfect. Whereas my ortho seems to be most concerned with my "bite", which I couldn't care less about (my teeth bit through food perfectly ok before after all!)

I'm glad my orthodontist is giving his attention to what probably is the most important aspect of the treatment, but does anyone else find this? That what they ortho looks for is very different from what we look for in the mirror?

#2 Post by **Marzipan** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:45 pm

Don't worry, somehow I feel that a properly lined up bite is equivalent to nice straight teeth! And a proper bite may well help keep the teeth in line over time.

#3 Post by **hannah164** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:32 pm

Actually right now my ortho is only focusing on bring my impacted canines down while I want him to start fixing my bite because its pretty hard to chew when only your front teeth touch your bottom ones (because of your bottom brackets)!

I know that eventually my smile will be perfect in all aspects so I guess I need to learn some patience to get me through these next 2 years (after 20 months already)!

Good luck!

-Hannah

Top braces: 4/28/04
Bottom braces: 11/16/05

#4 Post by **bbsadmin** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:18 pm

Well you have to consider that if your bite winds up out of line, you could get a lot of jaw pain, headaches, etc. I think that orthos try to strike a balance between a good functional bite and a good aesthetic look. Before I "got into this" I didn't care about my bite, either. Then I learned what can happen if your bite gets screwed up and I realized that my ortho had my best interest in mind.

#5 Post by **Jesslzz 01** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 9:27 pm

I also started this for my smile, of course, and I still think a lot about it...I can say that I'm a little obsessed too. But after a week+ in spacers I appreciate a lot more what it means to be able to have a good bite!

I think both things are important, but a normal and functional bite is essential! I notice that now that I can't chew properly

#6 Post by **jcdamon3** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:16 am

I am in braces just to fix my bite. Hopefully my teeth will look a little straighter too. But if you have never had a bite that it off, you don't know how miserable it can be. It sounds like you have a good orthodontist if he is fixing your bite. Let him fix it. If all he cares about are straightening your teeth he will be doing you a huge disservice.

#7 Post by **ThatsMrsGeek2U** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:20 am

"You can't put icing on a half-baked cake."

I'm sure he will worry about straightening at some point, but function is more important to the docs, IMO. The aesthetics are just "icing" after that.

#8 Post by **Megera_S** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 12:40 pm

I didn't think my bite was bad to start with but now that we've started messing around with things it's gone pretty wacky and changes almost daily (the first few days it changed A LOT - ie: I'd decide to eat something solid for once then by the time I cooked or ordered out my bite had gone off just enough that eating was near impossible). I think that's one of the most frustrating things for me now - I can deal with the pain and everything but not being able to chew properly is pretty annoying

#9 Post by **bbsadmin** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:39 pm

Megera_S wrote:I didn't think my bite was bad to start with but now that we've started messing around with things it's gone pretty wacky and changes almost daily (the first few days it changed A LOT - ie: I'd decide to eat something solid for once then by the time I cooked or ordered out my bite had gone off just enough that eating was near impossible). I think that's one of the most frustrating things for me now - I can deal with the pain and everything but not being able to chew properly is pretty annoying

It's extremely common for a person's bite to change as their ortho treatment progresses. The most important thing is the final bite you wind up with! In the middle of treatment, you just have to bear with all the screwiness that can happen month to month.